Why visit Oman? – 9 reasons to explore the land of Sinbad

In the first few days of my trip I was struck by the variety of scenes and landscapes I was able to admire: 

• the white houses and buildings of the city,
• the bare mountains surrounding them,
• the busy and smelly fish market,
• the long beach where locals enjoyed their long weekend,
• the almost empty plateau where I crossed path with camels,
• the forts appearing everywhere,
• the many wadis you can hike or drive with pockets of water reflecting the high walls of the canyon,
• and the sand dunes!

You won’t get bored in Oman!

Except for few crazy decorated houses and fancy cars, the Omani people seem to like simplicity.

The forts are not covered with decorations, the houses are simple, the dress without too much embroidery…

I really enjoyed this simplicity and elegance in everything, for example the corridors of the Sultan Taboos Grand Mosque.

It was quite a contrast with my 3 days visiting the United Arab Emirates after, where everything needs to be the biggest, the brightest, the flashiest…. Oman was a lot more my style of place

All my travel destinations have that in common: I like the feeling of space: not too many tourists, big areas and desert. I love the peaceful feeling it gives me.

I know I was not there during the busiest touristic month but I think you can still enjoy those big spaces.

On the vast Salmah plateau, we drove off road and only crossed path with camels, few locals and one other tourist car.

In the desert of Wahiba Sands, I went wild camping with no one around.

I strolled on beaches and hiked paths almost by myself.

It was total bliss.

• At the Muscat fish market, I first went to the pier checking what the boats were bringing back
• During breakfast on a beach (you can enjoy wild camping anywhere), I saw finishing boats approaching and spent half an hour observing them collecting and throwing their nets, time after time
• South of Sur, I went to a public beach in hope of spotting turtles. I did not but cross path very early (4:30am) with the fishermen starting their day

Before my flight to Oman, I was worried about my capacity to capture its beauty via photography. I had looked at many pictures on the Internet and had noticed that the bare mountains, the white houses, the clear sky and harsh sun where not really helping with contrasts and light.

But at the end, I found Oman much more colorful than what I had seen in photographs and I am looking forward to sharing with you my best shots (once I finish working through the 6000 I have taken…)